Regulating Harmful Contaminants for Healthier Communities

We encounter countless toxic substances without even realizing it—in indoor air, drinking water, contaminated dust, consumer products, older homes and buildings, and workplace activities such as manufacturing, processing, cleaning, maintenance, and disposal. Their risks to humans are often well known, but many harmful substances remain unregulated. 

Through the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), enacted in 1976 and strengthened in 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to review and regulate the production, import, use, and disposal of unsafe chemicals. 

For more than 30 years, Abt has helped EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) turn complex chemical-safety statutes into workable regulations and implementation tools. Across more than 100 OPPT regulatory actions — including nearly 70 in the past five years — Abt has provided economic and regulatory analysis, modeling, stakeholder engagement, rulemaking support, and technical assistance for implementation, outreach, and training.

WHAT WE’RE DOING

Regulatory processes to protect communities and environments

Our environmental team has helped the EPA advance several landmark regulatory efforts that will improve safety for millions of people and reduce workplace chemical exposures for tens of thousands more. This included finalizing rules for several toxic substances, including asbestos, carbon tetrachloride (CTC), methylene chloride, perchloroethylene (PCE), trichlorethylene (TCE), and dust lead.

Working with multiple EPA offices, Abt combined health, data science, research, and technical expertise to support each stage of the regulatory process, including risk evaluation, economic analysis, rule drafting, and response to public input. We structured analyses to align with federal guidance and support transparent, defensible decisions. 

Years in the making, these new rules will reduce risks of cancer, developmental disorders, and heart disease for people exposed.

Let’s zero in on carbon tetrachloride (CTC), used in petrochemical and industrial settings. Under TSCA, EPA identified CTC as a human carcinogen linked to liver cancer, brain tumors, and adrenal gland tumors while also contributing to ozone depletion. This multifaceted threat triggered the need for regulatory action. 

Abt supported EPA’s development of the 2024 CTC rule by providing economic and sensitivity analyses that informed regulatory options and understanding of how the rule would affect industry, workers, and the public. This analysis informed EPA’s approach to ban non-essential uses, set strict controls for critical exempted uses, and require monitoring and reporting to support implementation and oversight. In practice, our role was to translate scientific findings into regulatory decisions grounded in cost, impact, and feasibility.
 

IMPACT

Rigorous analysis undergirds rulemaking

The final CTC rule, published in December 2024, turns a known toxic hazard into enforceable protections. It will reduce exposure for tens of thousands of workers in facilities where CTC is still used, strengthen protections over time for communities located near those facilities, and limit environmental harm by reducing contributions to ozone depletion. The rule shows how rigorous analysis can support stronger toxic substance regulation for measurable public health and community benefits.

Abt analyses supported EPA in quantifying and monetizing benefits for occupational users and non-users, while noting that additional cancer, non-cancer, dermal-exposure, and environmental benefits are real but difficult to measure. This strengthens the regulatory record and supports transparent decision-making. 
 

WHY THIS MATTERS

Landmark rules that protect health and safety

The CTC rule and other regulations show how strong data and regulatory analyses translate into measurable public health and environmental benefits. Backed by Abt’s rigorous research, these rules are a significant victory in protecting families, American workers, and the environment—closing critical regulatory gaps on some of the most harmful substances in circulation. 

Project

Multiple

Client

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)

Featured in our 2026 Mission Impact Report